Bloodlines from RoseDimitri's POV
by Roza-Dimka-Reader
Summary: Revised Version of my other story. Rose and Dimitri's point of view of the events in Bloodlines and perhaps The Golden Lily. Not sure if Rating will be T or M.
1. Chapter 1

**Let me know what you think! :D**

**Revised Story of Bloodlines,**

**Chapter 1**

I watched from where I was sitting on his bed as he started to button up his crisp white shirt.

"Here, let me help." I said, standing up and approaching him. He dropped his hands as I took control, unbuttoning the ones he had already managed to get on. My fingers fumbled ever so slightly at how close to him I was. He had just gotten out of the shower and the smell of his skin and hair was overwhelming to me.

I unbuttoned the last one and did my best to pull the shirt back off him.

"Roza," he said warningly as I moved my hands to his belt.

I gave him one of my famous man-eating smiles and continued to undo his belt.

"We can't," he said, grabbing my hands, effectively stopping my plan to strip him of all layers.

"Why not?" I pouted a little.

"We don't have time," he answered, but I could see him wavering ever so slightly.

"Yes we do," I said, trying to convince him completely. "We still have…" I checked the clock quickly. "…25 minutes."

I didn't wait for an answer and crushed my lips to his. Dimitri stumbled, slightly surprised by my sudden attack, but I didn't release my hold. After a moment, I felt him give in and kiss me back with equal pressure. I grinned inwardly at the power I knew I had over him, no matter how much he tried to tell himself otherwise.

Sure enough, we made it to Lissa's perfectly on time.

Well, perfectly on time by my standards. According to Dimitri we were still five minutes late. I rolled my eyes and saw that he was looking at me with nothing but amusement and affection.

We went and stood in our assigned places surrounding the room as Lissa, Christian, Adrian and Jill sat around to talk and eat. I immediately went into my 'guardian mode,' and stood like a statue against the wall nearest Lissa. Assessing the room, I noticed that there were several other guardians in the room. Dimitri and I were there of course, as well as Eddie, and five other members of the Royal guard.

Since becoming an official member of the royal guard, I had been introduced to the other members. Most of them had welcomed me willingly…although; they had underestimated me in the beginning.

Every week, as many of the Royal Guard get together when they can and have a sort-of sparring competition. Since joining, I had won every week.

I always remember the looks on all of their faces when I pinned Karl – Guardian Jones – on that first day. Jones had been in the Guard the longest so he naturally had authority over the rest of us. That, and he was the oldest out of all of us, being in his early 40's.

Until, I came along, nobody had been able to beat him.

I had laughed afterwards at the looks of shock on their faces. Being the youngest _and _the only girl had its advantages and its disadvantages. I think Jones may have been going easy on me because of those reasons. I made sure everyone now knows not to hold back with me.

After that, I had bonded and fitted in well with them.

Back in the room, the members of the guard present were standing statue-like against the perimeter of the wall.

Lissa and the other royals were all chatting animatedly when suddenly, there was a loud crash.

My guardian instincts flared up as several men dressed in black stormed into the room with weapons. I ran and made my way to Lissa, effectively blocking their path to her. Dimitri did the same with Christian, and the other guardians helped block Lissa from harm.

Too late, I realised we had left Jill open.

Eddie seemed to realise this too and ran for her…but he was too late.

I stood frozen as one of the men reached Jill and thrust a knife through her chest. There was a second silence as everyone realised what had just happened…

And then the guardians were on the attackers.

We managed to take them out, all the while protecting the rest of the Moroi. Once they were gone, I turned to Jill, afraid of what I might see.

What I saw was not what I was expecting.

Jill was sitting up on the floor, a small pool of blood surrounding her…but there was no wound anymore. She looked pale and in shock.

As I saw Adrian kneeling beside her, looking equally as pale and exhausted, it only took me a second to realise what had happened.

Adrian had healed Jill…and brought her back from the dead.

"Jill?" I asked gently, crouching down beside her. Her bright green Dragomir eyes looked up at me in shock, and then filled with tears.

I pulled her into a hug as she sobbed into my shoulder. Trying to calm her down with soothing tones, I motioned for Lissa, who was looking at the scene with shock, to come over and help comfort sister.

Lissa understood and tentatively approached us. She knelt down the other side of Jill and carefully took her from my arms into her own. I watched in pride as Lissa tried to comfort her little sister. Lissa still hadn't come to terms with the fact that her father had had an affair and another child with another woman…but she was starting to try really hard to make Jill welcome, no matter how hard it was for her.

I stood and exchanged a look of relief with Dimitri.

_What did this mean?_

It meant that Jill was now shadow-kissed.

I didn't even know how I was going to begin explaining to her what to expect or how to control it…because honestly, I didn't know.

The dinner was abandoned and everyone returned to their rooms. Dimitri and I decided to stay on duty through the night in case any more attacks had been planned. We didn't have to worry of course, but there would be no way either of us would sleep anyway that night.

Jill was taken to another bedroom close to Lissa's, where there would be guardians nearby. The same was for Adrian, who had all but passed out after using so much spirit.

I made a mental note to talk to Jill tomorrow once she had calmed down and gotten some rest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the short chapters but that's all I have time to write at the moment – otherwise you guys will be waiting weeks for one chapter. And I'm honestly not just making excuses! I swear :P I came home from school yesterday and was planning to write for an hour but my homework took five hours and I was exhausted. Same thing happened this evening – except I had volleyball training as well :/ **

**So sorry if it sucks – I just feel like I owe ye **_**something. **_

**Thank you for the reviews and for reading ! :D**

**Chapter 2**

"It gets easier," I assured her. "Over time you'll learn to block Adrian's emotions."

Jill nodded, looking downwards. I gave her shoulders a quick, reassuring squeeze and stood up to leave. Jill and I had spent the last hour going over what she had been experiencing and what she should be expecting. She had listened intently and taken it well, but I could see the sadness in her eyes. She was young, and struggling to cope with the newly instated bond between Adrian and herself. I had promised her I would help her through it no matter what.

I walked to Lissa's office where we had arranged to meet and discuss what the next move was. We spent hours going through option after option until eventually we came up with a plan.

Jill would be moved into hiding in a town far away for her protection. Eddie would go with her for protection. Lissa had also suggested that Adrian go too. Having experienced the bond first hand, we thought it was a good idea if Jill and Adrian were nearby each other – especially for the first while.

Not that I'd ever voice it, but I was selfishly relieved that Adrian wasn't going to be around Court.

After talking with the others, Abe told us that he would get in contact with the Alchemists and would escort the group to the chosen destination. After hours of research, we decided on a small house in Palm Springs. It was owned by an old Moroi man who lived by himself. Lissa had contacted him and he had graciously told us that the group could stay with him and use his personal feeder.

Over the next few days, everything was organised and the group was set to go.

"I'm coming with you," I told my father, using a final tone I only used when I wanted something and nobody was going to get in the way.

"I don't see why, little girl," he answered, ignoring my serious tone.

"You wouldn't see, would you?" I retorted and got up to get ready. He sighed, looking at me with an amused look as I walked away.

The main reason I wanted to go with them was for extra protection. Not that I didn't think Eddie was incapable, but I felt very protective of Jill now – especially since the attack. The other reason was to see Sydney Sage, the Alchemist who had been on the run with Dimitri and I. Word has it that she got into a lot of trouble with her fellow Alchemists when they found out and I hadn't heard a word since. I had grown a strange sort of friendship with Sydney while we had been in hiding and I was more than a little anxious to see if she was okay after dealing with the wrath of the Alchemists.

I walked to my bedroom to smarten myself up. The trip to Palm Springs was a long one. Once I was ready, I checked the time. Dimitri would be finished his guarding shift by now so I went to look for him in his bedroom.

Because we were both guardians, we each had our own bedrooms…but we had never stayed in them at the same time. Usually, we took it in turns – one night we would stay in mine, the next in his. It was a small routine we had developed once I was healed enough to walk again.

"Hey," I said, walking in the door. He was changing out of his uniform and I had arrived just in time to see him remove his shirt. I watched the muscles in his back ripple slightly as he tugged the material off and reached for a t-shirt.

He turned when I spoke and gave me one of those smiles that made me melt into a little puddle on the ground. "Hey."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my lips gently.

Of course, it didn't stay gentle for long. Eventually, I was the one to pull away…for once.

"This time, we actually _don't _have time," I told him and gave him another small peck on his lips before moving away from his altogether. He looked at me with confusion.

"I'm heading down with the group to Palm Springs," I explained. "But I'll be back late tonight," I whispered seductively in his ear. I had the satisfaction of seeing goose bumps rise on his neck at my proximity.

After several more minutes of making out, I managed to pull myself, reluctantly, away from him and made my way to where the car was getting ready to leave.


	3. Chapter 3

**Not getting much reviews but I'm going to post this long chapter anyway. I found some free time this eve so I wrote…and wrote and wrote some more :P**

**Enjoy guys :) this scene is in Bloodlines. **

**Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns ****everything.**

**Chapter 3**

I was helping Eddie and the others pack up the car when I heard a rustle from a nearby bush.

"Did you hear that?" I whispered to Eddie, who happened to be right beside me.

"Yeah," he breathed back, equally on alert. I nonchalantly moved towards Jill and the other Moroi as not to alert the possible threat to the fact we had heard their movement. Before any of us could say another word, two bodies jumped out of the bush and tried to ambush us. Eddie and I blocked their path to the Moroi and stopped them both before they could get any further.

They were both dressed in dark clothes and seemed to have the build of men. They hadn't been expecting Eddie and I to be on them so quickly and were a little taken aback. That gave Eddie and I the chance to jump in there and make our own attack. The two men were both unconscious before they knew it.

"We have _got _to get this quorum law changed," I said exasperatedly.

The drive to Palm Springs was long and awkward, and I was beginning to half-regret my decision to take the trip with them.  
Adrian stared silently out the back window the entire journey and didn't say a word. Jill and Eddie chatted quietly beside him. I didn't make much effort to speak to my father who was driving the car. Even though I would never admit it, my old man had grown on me in the past few weeks; I still didn't feel comfortable with a lovey-dovey relationship however.

I spent most of the journey resting my feet on the dashboard and listening to old 80's songs on the radio, which I completely blamed Dimitri for.

We arrived shortly before five o'clock and unloaded the luggage from the boot.

I approached the door and knocked softly a couple of times.

Expecting to see an elderly man answer the door, I was surprised when a young man came out to greet. He had black, wavy hair – a little longer than Christians, and not unattractive features. His grey eyes seemed to pierce right through you.

"Eh, hi…" I started. "I'm Rose Hathaway – I'm here to escort Jill Dragomir to Clarence Donahue?"

"You've got the right place," the man answered. "I'm Lee, his son."

I shook his outstretched hand and walked inside as he signalled for me to go through. The others were right behind me at this stage.

"Dad?" Lee spoke to the elderly man sitting on the lone armchair in the bright living room. "The group from court has arrived."

"Rose Hathaway," I introduced myself as he stood up as he stood up as quickly as he could – which didn't happen to be very fast.

"Pleasure," he replied. "Clarence Donahue."

"Nice to meet you," I said to him. "This is Jill Mastrano." I introduced Jill as she approached the old man. "Eddie Castile." Eddie gave a polite nod and continued taking in his surroundings – a typical guardian instinct. "Adrian Ivashkov." Adrian refused to look in my direction but shook the old man's hand out of good manners. "And Abe Mazur."

Abe entered the room last and like always, drew attention with his confident attitude and his flashy clothes.

"Clarence," he also shook the man's hand, as well as Lee's. "Have the Alchemist's arrived yet?"

"Not yet," Lee answered him. "But they should be here any minute."

I felt a hand grab my arm. Turning, I saw it was Clarence who had tried to grab my attention.

"You are a guardian?" he asked me. As I saw him up close, I noticed an almost crazed look in the man's eyes. It occurred to me that maybe he wasn't the full shilling.

"Yes," I answered him.

"Would you please check the security of the house? Both the inside and the out?" he asked me, quite urgently. I saw Lee roll his eyes from the corner of my eye.

"Of course," I assured him and made my way out another door.

"I'll come with you," Clarence's son Lee said and followed me out.

I walked into the small kitchen and then Lee led me to a door that I presumed led outside the back. Before leaving the room, I gave it a quick scan. The place seemed pretty secure; all of the windows were locked. The deadbolt on the door leading outdoors was rusty and looked like it would give way immediately if anyone attempted to break in.

We walked outside and gave the perimeter of the garden a thorough check. The walls around the land were high and safe. Lee waited in the garden while I made sure the place was secure. I checked both sides of the house before moving around the front, where I saw a new car parked near ours.

The Alchemists had arrived, it seemed.

I walked around the back once again.

"Ignore my father," Lee said with amusement. "He's completely crazy at the best of times. It's best to just humour him."

I laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

We walked back inside and Lee shut the door behind us. The sound of conversation from the living room was drifting through to the kitchen.

"That's very nice of you," Sydney's sarcastic voice stood out. My heart leapt knowing that she was seemingly okay.

"Well, I always aim to help others in need," my father replied.

I entered the room, Lee following.

"Yeah, that's exactly what comes to mind when I think of you, old man," I said sarcastically to him, though the amusement was clear in my voice.

"Rose?" Sydney's shocked voice called.

"Hey Sydney," I smiled at her. I noticed there was another Alchemist in the room. I nodded politely to him. "Hey, other Alchemist." The boy just stared at me for a few moments. I knew that look well – it was not fear, no. But something else entirely. Even to Alchemists and humans, I knew I was attractive.

"I-I'm Keith," he finally said. I almost giggled as he stumbled. I couldn't help but wonder what Dimitri would do when he was around when guys looked at me like that.

"Rose Hathaway," I introduced myself once more that evening. I turned away from him and over to Clarence.

"I checked the house's perimeter like you asked," I told him. "It's about as safe as you can make it, though your back door's lock should probably be replaced."

"Are you sure?" He asked me, looking shocked. "It's brand new."

On what planet a lock like that was brand new, I didn't know.

"Maybe when this house was built," Lee said, joining the conversation. "It's been rusted since we moved here." He smiled at the Alchemists. "I'm Lee Donahue." He extended his hand to both Sydney and Keith, but only Sydney took it. I had a feeling that I wasn't going to like this Keith guy.

Sydney politely introduced herself and her companion. I could tell from the way she said his name that she wasn't very fond of Keith herself.

"Alchemists, right?" Lee said to them, looking very interested. "I've never met one of you. The tattoo's you guys have are beautiful. I've heard about what they can do."

"Donahue?" Keith asked him, ignoring his comments about their tattoos, which I agreed were beautiful. "Are you related?"

"Father and son." Lee answered him.

"But you don't live here, do you?" Keith asked him. It was the most words I had heard the boy speak since they got here. I didn't like the sound of distaste underlying his tone.

"Not regularly, no," Lee answered him. "I go to college in LA, but my schedule's just part-time this semester. So, I want to try and spend more time with Dad."

Abe's head whipped around and his eyes met mine, sparkling with amusement. "You see that?" he asked me. "Now that's devotion." I rolled my eyes in response.

"I could have sworn I had that lock replaced." Clarence said suddenly. Looking at him, he didn't seem to have been following the conversation at all.

"Well, I can replace it soon for you if you want," Lee told him, his voice gentle. "Can't be that hard."

"I think it's find," Clarence replied, slowly pulling himself up on his feet. "I'm going to take a look."

Lee moved quickly towards him to help steady him. He shot the room an apologetic look. "Does it have to be right now?"

Clarence didn't answer him. He just moved with determination towards the kitchen doorway.

"I'll go with you," Lee said. I remembered what he had told me about just humouring his father.

Once they had left the room, Sydney turned to Jill. "You didn't have any problems getting here, did you? No more, um, incidents?"

"We ran into a couple dissidents before we left Court," I told her, the idea of the two men trying to kill Jill making me angry. "Nothing we couldn't handle. The rest was uneventful."

"And it's going to stay that way," Eddie said, speaking for the first time since getting here. "At least if I have anything to do with it."

Sydney looked from me to Eddie in confusion, and then back to Eddie again. "I was told there'd be _a _dhampir along…did they decide to send two?"

"Rose invited herself along," my father said. "Just to make sure the rest of us didn't miss anything. Eddie's the one who will be joining you at Amberwood."

It had been decided that Jill, Sydney and Eddie would attend the local human school. It was a boarding school so they would stay there during the whole week.

A feeling of annoyance rose up in me. I hadn't realised how important it was to me that Jill was safe. There was a part of me that felt guilty for not protecting Jill when she needed it.

"I should be the one staying," I said. "I should be Jill's roommate. No offense, Sydney. We need you for the paperwork, but I'm the one who's gotta kick anyone's ass who gives Jill trouble."

"No," Jill said firmly. I had never heard her speak with such intensity. "You need to stay with Lissa and keep her safe. I've got Eddie, and besides, no one even knows I'm here. Nothing else is going to happen."

I knew she was right – about the first part anyway; I had to stay with Lissa and protect her. She needed me. But I didn't _know_ that nothing else bad would happen to Jill…and that scared me.

Sydney looked back at Jill.

"What _did _happen?" she asked her. "Were you hurt? We heard stories about an attack but no confirmation."

The room fell silent. We had decided after the attack that no one should know about the newly-formed bond between the Dragomir princess and the Ivashkov with the bad reputation. It was what was best for Jill.

I gave her a sharp look, reminding her of the agreement.

"I'm fine," she told Sydney. "There was an attack, yeah, but none of us were hurt. I mean, not seriously. We were in the middle of a royal dinner when we were attacked by Moroi – like, Moroi assassins. They made it look like they were going for Lis- for the queen, but instead came for me." Jill stopped talking and looked down, obviously uncomfortable. "I was saved, though, and the guardians rounded them up."

"But we don't think they're all gone," Eddie took over. "which is why we have to stay away from Court. And we don't know where the traitors in our own ranks are. So, until then, here we are."

"Hopefully not for long," the Keith guy said. Sydney shot him a scolding look at his rudeness.

"I mean, this place can't be all that fun for you guys, with the sun and everything."

"It's safe," Eddie replied. "That's what counts."

The Donahue's returned then.

Eddie addressed Clarence. "You said you've never heard of any Strigoi being around here, right?" he asked, double-checking the information we had received.

"No," Clarence replied, his eyes looking far away. "but there are worse things than Strigoi…"

I jumped to my feet; there had been nothing about _that_ in the report I had received.

Lee groaned. "Dad, please. Not that."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded, abandoning all niceties.

"What other dangers are there?" Eddie also demanded.

I noticed Lee looked very embarrassed. "Nothing…please. It's a delusion of his, that's all."

"Delusion?" Clarence repeated, looking in annoyance at his son. "Was your cousin's death a delusion? Is the fact that those high-ups at Court let Tamara go un-avenged a delusion?"

"Tamara was you niece, right?" Sydney asked him. It had probably been on the report she'd read. "What happened to her, sir?"

"She was killed." He answered and held us all in suspense.

"By vampire hunters."

"I'm sorry, by what?" Sydney asked him, sounding as confused as I felt.

"Vampire hunters," Clarence repeated seriously.

"Oh, you won't find that anywhere – not even in _your _records," he said to Sydney. "We were living in Los Angeles when they got her. I reported it to the guardians, demanded they hunt the culprits down. Do you know what they said?"

"No," Jill replied after a long, awkward silence. "What did they say?"

"They said there was no such thing."

I wasn't surprised. I had never heard of the term 'vampire hunters' in my life. I was positive neither had Dimitri, nor any other guardian I knew.

"That there was no evidence to support my claim," Clarence continued. "They ruled it a Strigoi killing and said there was nothing anyone could do, that I should be grateful she wasn't turned."

"The guardians are very thorough," Eddie told him, obviously feeling the same need to defend our race as I was. He sat down next to Jill. "I'm sure they had their reasons."

"Reasons?" Clarence asked. "If you consider denial and living a delusional life reasons, the I suppose so. They just don't want to accept that vampire hunters are out there. But tell me this, if my Tamara was killed by Strigoi, why did they cut her throat? It was cut cleanly with a blade." He made a sudden slashing motion across his neck, making me flinch a little. It had obviously been a gruesome attack, whoever had been responsible. A quick image of the bodies in the Badica house I had seen a while back with Dimitri flashed across my mind. It was gone as quickly as it had come.

"Why not use fangs?" Clarence asked. "Makes it easier to drink. I pointed that out to the guardians, and they said that since about half of her blood had been drunk, it was obviously a Strigoi. But I say a vampire hunter did it and made it _look _like they took her blood. Strigoi would have no reason to use a knife."

I was at a loss for words while my mind processed everything he had said. I suppressed my scepticism as I reminded myself of Clarence's eccentricity. "It _is _strange," I said eventually, choosing my words carefully. "But I'm sure there's another explanation, Mr. Donahue."

Keith suddenly spoke up. "It might seem strange for Strigoi, but they do all sorts of vicious things for no reason. I know from personal experience.

I directed my attention to the other Alchemist, as did everybody else.

"Oh?" my father asked him. I thought I saw something hidden in his eyes. "What happened?"

The Keith guy pointed to one of his eyes. "I was attacked by Strigoi earlier this year. They beat me up and ripped out my eye. Then they left me."

"Without drinking or killing?" Eddie asked him, frowning. "That _is_really weird. That doesn't sound like normal Strigoi behaviour."

"I'm not sure you can really expect Strigoi to do anything 'normal,' my father pointed out. The 'something' I had seen in his eyes flashed stronger now. It was amusement. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at my father. "They only took one eye?" he continued. "They didn't try for both?"

"Excuse me," Sydney said, rising from where she was sitting. "I…I don't feel well…I'm going to get some air." I studied her with concern. To my relief, she didn't look that ill.

"Of course, of course," Clarence said to her. "Should I have my housekeeper get you some water? I can ring the bel –"

"No, no," she cut him off. "I just…I just need a minute."

"Such delicate sensibilities," Abe said as she left the room. "You'd think she wouldn't be so squeamish, considering her profession. But you, young man, seem like you can handle talking about blood…"

The Keith boy started telling some irritating, egotistical story that made me feel almost nauseous myself. I found myself tuning out. I had no choice but to at least pretend I was listening to him as my father excused himself and stepped outside also. I prayed his wasn't still giving Sydney trouble. Or maybe he had gone to find Adrian, who had been missing this entire time.

I got my answer once Adrian and my father entered the room around ten minutes later. Sydney entered a few minutes later. Glad to have everyone back in the room, and to stop the Alchemist from blabbering on, we discussed the plan for the next couple of weeks in great detail.

"How are you going to get to feedings?" Sydney asked Adrian, who was standing against the wall that was, conveniently, furthest from me.

"By walking down the hall," he replied.

"Adrian will be staying here with me," Clarence explained to her. "It will be nice to have someone else in these old wall's."

"Oh," Sydney replied. "How very _Secret Garden_," she murmured. Having never even heard of is, I hadn't a clue what she was talking about.

"Hmm?" Adrian asked her.

"Nothing," she replied. "I was just thinking of a book I read."

"Oh," Adrian replied, the bored look on his face returning.

"Don't forget me," Lee said to his father. "I told you I'll be around more."

"Maybe young Adrian here will keep you out of trouble then," Clarence said to his son. Eddie and I grinned at each other, knowing that Adrian would in fact, do the exact opposite of that should he get the chance.

"Well," Keith said, clearing his throat. "I need to get home and take care of some business. And since you're my ride, Sydney…"

As Keith prepared to go, and Eddie and Jill rose to get their luggage, I grabbed Sydney's arm and pulled her to the side of the room, out of earshot of everyone else.

"How have you been?" I asked her quietly, knowing she wouldn't want anyone to hear, especially Keith. "I've been worried about you, ever since…well, you know. No one would tell me what happened to you."

"I was in a little trouble at first," she told me. "But it's past."

"I'm glad," I told her, feeling a small weight lift of my shoulders. "They told me originally it was your sister that was going to be here."

"It was a mix-up." She told me.

"Well, I feel a little better with you here, but it's still hard…I still feel like I should protect Jill. But I need to protect Lissa too. They think Jill's the easier target, but they're still going after Lissa."

I felt so torn. And I hadn't admitted this to anyone – apart from Dimitri, of course, who knew me so well that he could have guessed what I was feeling.

"It's been crazy, you know. Ever since Lissa took the throne? I thought I'd finally get to relax with Dimitri." I couldn't help the smile that slid onto my face at the mere mention of his name. God, I was so whipped. "I should have known nothing's ever simple with us. We've spent all our time looking out for Lissa and Jill." I felt like I was suffering from Dimitri-withdrawal.

"Jill will be okay," Sydney told me. "As long as the dissidents don't know she's here, it should all be easy. Boring, even."

"I hope so," I said, grateful that she was trying to assure me, even if it wasn't working. "If only you know what had happened…" the disastrous dinner flashed in my mind and I pushed it away. "We're working on changing the law – the one that says Lissa needs one family member in order to stay queen. Once that's done, both she and Jill will be out of danger. But that just means those who want to take out Jill are more insane than ever, because they know the clock's ticking."

I wasn't sure what made me spill everything I was feeling out to Sydney, but all I knew was that it felt so damn good to tell a girlfriend what I was feeling. I couldn't exactly talk to Lissa about this stuff, seen as though it concerned her, and I didn't exactly have many other female friends.

"How long?" Sydney asked. "How long will it take to change the law?"

"I don't know," I told her honestly. "A few months, maybe? Legal stuff…well, it's not my thing. Not the details of it, at least."

I flipped my hair over my shoulder. "Crazy people who want to hurt my friends? That _is _my thing, and believe me, I know how to deal with it."

"I remember," she replied. "Look, you go do what you do, and I'll do what I do. I'll make sure Jill blends in. You guys got her here without anyone knowing. She's off the grid now."

"I hope so," I told her, feeling worried again. "Because if she's not, your little group here doesn't stand a chance against those crazy rebels."


	4. Chapter 4

I said goodbye to Eddie, Jill and Sydney. Deciding it was best to just leave Adrian be, I climbed back into the car we had travelled down in and waited for my beloved father to get in.

I didn't think it was possible…but the drive back seemed even longer than the journey down. Abe seemed to feel like we were in need of some serious father-daughter bonding time.

He drove off the highway and down a much smaller road which eventually led to what looked like a rundown old town.

"What are we going here?" I asked him exasperatedly.

"Getting dinner." He answered. I looked around at my surroundings. No offense to the people of – wherever the hell we were – but I wasn't very keen on eating here.

However, my father walked through the streets, me at his heels, and somehow impossibly managed to find a more than decent restaurant. I didn't ask how he knew it was there – I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

We didn't have trouble getting a small booth in the back of the restaurant as it wasn't very busy anyway. Abe waited for me to sit down and then followed suit.

As soon as we were sitting, we were swamped with seemingly excited staff members. It was obvious they were not used to having very many customers.

Glasses of water were placed in front of us, as well as menus.

"Are you ready to order?" A young man asked us, not even giving me a chance to look at my menu.

I was about to object but Abe answered before I could.

"Yes, we'll have-"

"I can order for myself, thank you." I snapped at him, pissed off.

Abe leaned back in his seat looking amused. "Be my guest."

The waiter looked at me expectantly as I flipped open my menu.

It took me a few moments to realise that the entire thing was in a foreign language. Abe burst out laughing at the look on my face. He then ordered for me in another language.

I just looked in annoyance at him once the waiter had left.

"What did you order me?" I asked him.

"A traditional Turkish dish," he told me. "It's about time you added some culture to your life."

I rolled my eyes and sipped my water.

"Speaking of culture…" He started, leaning forward again and resting his elbows on the table. "How is Belikov?"

I scoffed. I should have known there was some other reason for him wanting to spend time with me.

"His name is _Dimitri_, and he's fine." I told him. "We're fine."

We were more than fine actually, but this was not something I wanted to talk about with my father.

"And I would appreciate it if you just abandoned this whole 'hunting' trip you want to take him on so badly. I can handle myself."

"Oh yes, I had _almost _forgotten that I needed to have a little talk with Belikov. Almost."

"Abe, please. Just leave him alone." I wasn't far off begging in all honesty. The idea of Dimitri alone, far far away in the wilderness with not one, but the two of my parents scared me.

Abe just laughed in response. The waiter returned carrying our food.

He placed a dish down in front of me that actually smelled alright. I had never eaten Turkish cuisine before. The dish in front of me looked oddly familiar.

"Is this French toast?" I asked him.

"Basically," Abe answered me, enjoying the pleasantly surprised look on my face.

"What are they?" I asked, pointing to the well-cooked balls of meat also on the plate.

"They're koftas," he replied. "Lamb meatballs," he explained further when I looked at him uneasily.

The meal was surprisingly good and I ate every last bit. During the meal, Abe asked me about almost every detail of my life – how I met Lissa, to what teachers I like and didn't like. Surprisingly, he didn't ask me anything else about Dimitri and I, which I was thankful for…but that probably meant he was saving the interrogation for Dimitri alone.

Abe paid for the food and we left the restaurant in search of the car. I was happy – and actually quite shocked – to see that it was still there.

By the time we arrived back at court, it was very late. I checked the time in the car to see that it was after midnight. My father walked me to the guardian's quarters where I was staying and we said goodnight.

"Thanks, Abe," I said a little awkwardly. I had actually enjoyed talking to my father one on one with no interruptions. "I had a nice evening."

"Me too, Rose, me too."

We said goodnight and I watched as he made his way back across the grounds. Once he was out of sight, I pushed the door of the building open.

There were still a few guardians up and about, but not as many as there was during the day. The ones who passed me nodded politely or said a quick 'hello' before going back to what they were doing. It was shocking really how quickly both Dimitri and I had gone from being disgraced criminals to well respected guardians once again.

I shut my bedroom door behind me and stared at the emptiness of is. I didn't like to admit it, but it was true. After talking with Abe, my father, I was feeling vulnerable. Talking about my past with him hadn't been the easiest of tasks for me – especially because he hadn't been there.

I turned on my heel and headed towards Dimitri's room. I felt the need to be near him tonight, as I did every night, and I hoped beyond hope that he wasn't on duty tonight.

I used the key he hadn't given me when I reached his door and let myself in. His room was very similar to mine – around the same size and not much stuff in it. It was dark when I walked in but my eyes adjusted fairly quickly and I could see his form under the blankets of his bed. I shut the door as silently as I could behind me and tiptoed to his bed. I pulled my clothes off in the process and felt the cool air sear my skin as I stood there in nothing but my underwear.

Dimitri was breathing deeply as I slipped in beside him in his bed. It was warm from his body heat and I snuggled myself up against him. He jumped ever so slightly when my cool skin touched his but he relaxed when he realised it was just me.

"You're back," he said quietly, his voice coated with sleep.

"Yeah," I breathed back.

"You're cold," he commented suddenly and without waiting for a response, he turned on his side and pulled me flushed up against him. Wrapping both arms around me, he held me tight as I began to drift to sleep in his arms.

"I love you Roza," he breathed before drifting off completely.

I smiled into his neck.

"I love you too," I replied sleepily and slipped into my own state of dreamless sleep.

**AN – RozaRocks,**

**Rose-loves-Dimitri,**

**CupcakeQueenForever,**

**Samwysesr, **

**And to all the guests:**

**Thank you all for the reviews! ****They mean so much and really make my day :) **


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N – I seriously owe you guys an update. **

**I just want to say sorry – my internet connection broke early last week and I've been waiting for a new modem to arrive. I only just got it set up. 7 days without internet and I was seriously going crazy! Lol**

**Before you read on, I just want to say that I will have Christmas exams next week so I might not get the chance to write or update until Christmas – that goes for my other stories too if you're reading them :)**

**In the meantime, feel free to check out some of my Christmas contest entries :P**

**There's **

**-Love of a Mentor**

**-Holiday**

**-Red High Heels**

**-Downtown Girl**

**Anyway! Here is chapter 5: **

_I sighed contently and leaned further into Dimitri's side, smiling but keeping my eyes closed._

_I didn't think it was possible to be any happier than I was right now. Just sitting here, snuggled up on the couch with my gorgeous boyfriend, kissing and whispering dirty things in each other's ears, was complete perfection._

_I opened my eyes and looked up into his chocolate brown eyes which happened to be gazing back at me. In that one small look, I could see all the love he held for me and more. It made me melt to the ground in utmost happiness. _

_I stretched my neck to reach his lips and he leaned down. Our lips touched and instantly, I felt the same sparks I always did when we kissed. He pulled me closer to him and I entwined my fingers through his thick hair. _

"_Rose…" he murmured my name against my lips. I felt pleasure at the fact that it was __**my**__ name that he was sighing._

_Repeatedly, he said it over and over again…but at some point it changed._

_It went from a sigh of pleasure to what sounded like a taunt. _

_But not the kind of taunt that was arousing._

"_Rose…oh Rosie…"_

_I started and pulled away from Dimitri, wondering what was wrong._

_I yelped when I leaned back saw that person I had been kissing before had gone from Dimitri to none other than Victor Dashkov._

_I struggled to scramble away from him, feeling confusion and fear, but before I could get away, my back hit into something hard._

_I spun, knowing that there had been nothing whatsoever behind me when I had first sat down on this couch with Dimitri._

_My eyes widened when I saw what it was._

_It was a tombstone._

"_Here lies Victor Dashkov, a beloved father, brother and friend."_

_The voice was dangerous, and I wanted to scream for help. Victor's cackle rang through my ears, echoing around the suddenly foggy room. I spun back around to face him, only to see that he was no longer there._

_He had been replaced with another tombstone. A different one._

"_Here lies Rosemarie Hathaway, died aged 18. A beloved daughter and friend."_

_I did scream this time, and felt myself tumble backwards. _

_And then, I was falling._

"_Rose…Rose…" my name rang out around me as I screamed and fell further into blackness._

_I landed with a thud on the ground. As soon as I hit it, everything went silent. I breathed a sigh of relief and used my shaky hands to help me get back on my feet. The ground was cold and hard and covered in dirt and dust. I brushed myself down and squinted around me in the darkness._

"_Dimitri?" I called for him, wanting nothing more than for him to enclose me in his strong arms and keep me safe._

"_Rose…" _

_I turned when I heard my name. A small flicker of light had appeared not to far away. I didn't move from where I was standing, not sure whether to run towards this light, or away from it._

_A took a few tentative steps forward, and the light got a little stronger._

_I was about to keep walking when suddenly, the light flared up brightly: going from the soft golden shade it had been, to fiery reds and oranges. I grimaced and tried to step back, but once again, hit into something hard._

_I turned around and nearly fainted in horror._

_Standing in front of me, was the charred and rotting form of Victor Dashkov._

"_See what you've done to me, Rose…" he choked out in a horrible gasping voice. "This is all your fault…"_

"_No…" I choked back, feeling like someone had grabbed my throat to stop any words coming out. _

"_You did this…" he wheezed and took a wobbly step towards me. I immediately backed away from him._

"_No…" I repeated._

"_You killed me!" He screamed, piercing my ears._

"_I didn't mean to!" I yelled back, feeling my tears springing free. _

"_You're a murderer…." He glared at me with sunken black eyes, forcing me to take another step back._

_Suddenly, I felt this almighty heat from behind me. Flames of fire flickered up and around me, tickling my elbows and hair._

"_You don't deserve to be happy…" He said with pure hatred and with that, he shoved me with his cold, dead hands._

_I fell again, but this time into the fiery pits of hell._

"Rose? Rose!"

I awoke suddenly, covered in sweat and feeling more than a little sick. Dimitri's worried gaze penetrated my own.

Before either of us could say anything, I hurled myself out of bed and ran for the bathroom. I made it just on time and threw up violently into the toilet bowl. Dimitri appeared from behind me, making me jump nearly a foot in the air.

"Ssh, Roza…it's okay," he murmured, stroking my hair while discreetly checking my forehead for a temperature.

I wiped my mouth and leaned into his strong chest, taking a few ragged deep breaths.

After a few moments of silence, he helped me stand on my feet.

"It was that dream again, wasn't it?" he asked me, looking concerned.

I nodded as an answer, not trusting my voice just yet. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

This was not the first time I had had a dream – or a nightmare more accurately – like this. I had gotten a couple in the first few weeks or so after the incident with Victor, but not much recently.

"I thought they were gone…" Dimitri murmured.

"What?" I asked him.

"You haven't been tossing in your sleep the last while…I thought maybe the nightmares had gone away," he looked sad as he explained. I hated when he looked sad.

"It's fine, Dimitri, I'm okay," I tried to soothe him, wanting to make the crease between his eyebrows go away. I took his hand and began leading him back to bed.

He looked like he wanted to argue but decided against it. He followed me and we settled back into the still-warm bed.

I snuggled up to Dimitri's warm body on his side of the bed and he wrapped me tight in his tanned arms.

I knew he had fallen back to sleep when I felt his whole form relax and heard his breathing even out.

I tried to fall back to sleep myself, but each time I shut my eyes, my mind was bombarded with images of tombstones and burning bodies. I didn't understand why I felt this way – I had meant what I said to Dimitri before: I really had forgiven myself for what I had done. I guessed it was just natural guilt of having blood on your hands.

I didn't get much sleep that night, but I lied and said I did when Dimitri asked the next morning. We each left for duty, busying ourselves, nightmares of death and pain forgotten.


	6. Chapter 6

***Hides* I know I start off almost every chapter with an apology for being late, so I'm not gonna do it this time. But Thank You! For the wonderful reviews you guys post! They make me smile so much :D **

**Chapter 6**

For the next few days, all I could think about was that dream, I mean, nightmare.

I felt like an idiot for reacting to it the way I had, but it just felt so damn real. I had told myself on countless occasions to just forget about it but it wasn't that easy.

Victor Dashkov's face was everywhere I went.

He was haunting me.

I got up out of bed and dressed myself. Dimitri had had an early morning guardian shift so naturally, he was gone when I woke up. I had really become so used to waking up with him almost every day that I really did miss him when he wasn't there.

Once I was washed and ready, I headed down to where Lissa would be to start my own shift. I went through the rest of the day like a zombie, feeling like I was about to keel over at any second as a result of my lack of sleep over the last couple of days.

I bid Lissa goodnight once I had finished and headed back up to my own room. I snuggled into the comfy couch and tried to sort my jumbled mind out.

"Alright," the door shut behind me and I jumped. I hadn't heard Dimitri even enter the room. I turned to look at him expectantly.

"Rose, you can't keep going like this," he crouched down on the floor beside the couch. "You've got to get help."

"Help?" I repeated, not getting what he was saying.

"Yes, Rose. Help. Like you did back at the Academy after Mason." I flinched internally at the mention of his name. "These dreams are not good, Rose."

"You want me to see a therapist?" I asked him, feeling shocked. Therapy was the last thing on my mind – and I wasn't planning on ever having to go back to one of those again. One had been bad enough; with their twisted way of answering questions by asking questions. Mind-bogglers.

"I think it would be good for you." He said, reaching out and holding my hand in the warmth of his own.

"And what would I tell her, Dimitri?" I blurted out, my emotions coming to a peak and getting the better of me. "That I murdered a Moroi? A Royal Moroi, at that? The same Royal Moroi that I happened to break out of prison a couple of months before that?"

Dimitri just looked at me. I could tell by the expression on his face that he, surprisingly, hadn't thought about the consequences of telling someone – even a therapist. All he wanted was for me to feel better.

"I still think you should talk to someone about it, about what's bothering you."

I didn't answer him, but he had obviously decided he didn't want an answer right now. He placed a long kiss on my temple and then left me and my thoughts alone, which were now even more jumbled up than they had been.

After grumbling by myself for a while, I actually came around to the idea of talking to someone about all of this. Despite, everything I had said to Dimitri, I still felt horrible guilt over what I had done. And obviously, it was taking its toll.

But I would not see a councillor, no sir. If I was to talk to anyone about this, it would be someone I trusted with my life, and someone who was not involved when _it _had happened.

There was only one person that fit the bill.

So later that night, when the rest of Court had settled down for a good night's sleep, I left my room and walked quietly through the massive echoing halls. When I reached Lissa's chambers, the guardians on either side of the door gave me a polite nod. I greeted them back and then entered.

Lissa was still sitting at the desk, slaving over countless piles of files and forms of all sorts.

"Hey, Rose," she said, looking confused and surprised. "It's late, what are you doing here?"

"I was just wondering if I could talk to you about something?" I asked her, not meeting her questioning gaze.

"Sure." Neither of us moved.

"Em, privately," I told her, glancing quickly at the four guardians standing at each wall in the room. Lissa stood up without another word, and abandoning the work, led me to her actual bedroom.

"What is it?" she asked, concerned, after she had shut the door behind us.

I breathed in deeply and exhaled, unsure of where to even start.

"It's just, lately, I've been having nightmares." I started. "Actually, it's just one nightmare – the same one over and over again."

"What's it about?" she asked me worriedly. She pulled me over so that we were both sitting on the edge of her bed.

"It's mainly, em, about Victor Dashkov."

"Victor Dashkov?" she asked, as though she hadn't heard me correctly. Whatever, she had expected me to say, it wasn't that. "What about him?"

"Rose?" she said when I didn't answer her.

"He haunts me." I admitted, feeling tears pool in my eyes and threaten to spill over. Lissa looked confused, but her caring nature overrode her burning curiosity and she pulled me to her in a hug.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking genuinely frightened by my tears. I nodded, trying my hardest to rein my tears back. "What do you mean 'he haunts you'?"

"Victor's dead." I said bluntly. Lissa just looked at me.

"What do you- How do you know that?" she asked me. I wasn't quite able to read her reaction. It was times like these that I missed the bond.

"Because I killed him."

Lissa froze then. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought she was paralysed. I decided not to say anything – just to give her some time to let it sink in.

"Wh-" She stopped to clear her throat. "Why?" she asked timidly. I hated seeing her looking so scared.

I felt as though someone had thrown a bucket of ice cold water on my head when I realised that she was scared of _me. _

"The darkness was too much…" That was it. The tears that I had been holding in - for weeks now fought their way out…and I didn't stop them. As soon as I was able, I launched into the complete story of what had happened. I felt myself whole body start to relax when the fear left her face and eyes.

"Oh, Rose…" she said when I was finished. She hugged me tightly again. Then she pulled back and looked me squarely in the eye.

"It wasn't your fault, you know that right?"

I tried to look away but she stopped me.

"Rose! You of all people know exactly what darkness can do to someone. Why wouldn't it to apply to you too? You can't fight everything."

I left her talk to me, needing the reassurance and after a while, I felt some of the guilt go.

It wasn't until I spotted the fancy clock on the wall that I realised how late it was.

"Shit, Liss, I'm sorry – I didn't mean to stay so late," I apologised and jumped up. Lissa jumped up too, startled by my sudden movements.

"Don't be silly, Rose." She held me in a tight embrace. "I'm glad you came to talk to me."

"I'm glad you're my best friend, Liss." That was all I said and then I left the chamber.

I briefly contemplated going back to my own room, just for some peace and quiet, but I realised that I would get more peace with Dimitri's arms around me than I would by myself.

I didn't knock on his door – figuring he would be asleep. So I just let myself in. I was surprised to see the lights still on.

"There you are," Dimitri almost ran out of the kitchen. I leaned into him and hugged him back just as tightly. "I couldn't find you – I thought maybe you'd gotten yourself hurt…"

I could tell by his tense muscles that what he actually meant was 'I thought maybe you'd hurt yourself…on purpose.'

"Never, comrade," I assured him. The last thing I needed was for Dimitri to think I was suicidal.

"Where have you been?" he asked, pulling back to get a good look at me, and probably noticing my red rimmed eyes.

"Talking with Lissa…about everything. Victor."

Dimitri's expression went from surprised, to proud.

"You told her?"

"Yeah." I told him.

"How do you feel?"

"Much better," I answered him in complete honesty. "But Dimitri? Would you do me one thing?"

"Anything." He said immediately.

"Will you hold me?" I asked him, suddenly feeling incredibly vulnerable.

He gave me a small smile and wrapped me up in his strong, safe arms.


	7. Chapter 7

**I know it's another short one – sorry! That's all I had time for! :P I'm proud of myself though- second update this week ;)**

**Thanks for the reviews :D I'll reply at the bottom :)**

**Chapter 7**

A couple of weeks passed without any further thought of Victor Dashkov. Dimitri and I both busied ourselves with work and as much as I could, I helped Lissa with getting the quorum law abolished. It was a slow process, but we were definitely making progress – the biggest challenge would be getting the other council members to agree.

We hadn't heard a lot from the gang over in Palm Springs but so far, everything seemed to be going well. Nobody had followed us when we'd transported Jill there, and they were all doing well at keeping a low profile.

I was still worried however. It was only a matter of time before Lissa managed to pass this new law – and these rebels knew that. It concerned me that nobody had had any incidents with them for a while. I wasn't naïve enough to believe that they had decided to back off.

Today, Lissa was going to visit one or two of the council members and discuss what abolishing the ancient quorum law would mean. I didn't believe it would be too difficult, considering a lot of the council actually liked Lissa, despite her being young.

Christian, ergo Dimitri, had left Court this morning for some of Christian's 'personal business,' which I strongly suspected had something to do with Christmas presents. Lissa sat with natural elegance and grace in one of the official meeting rooms as she waited for Ariana Szelsky to arrive. I stood near her, trying to imitate the stoic look Dimitri had sported for often at the Academy. There were a few other guardians – both Lissa's and Ariana's – surrounding the room. All in all, when it was over, I thought it had gone pretty well. Lissa agreed.

"One down. Ten more to go," she joked as we walked back. Normally, I would have joked and laughed along with her, but my attention was on something else.

"What's going on?" I asked out loud. There were people rushing around, some of the Moroi seeming a little hysterical.

"I don't know," Lissa answered. The other guardians with us seemed just as curious. We followed the crowd. My curiosity turned to fear when I heard whispers of 'attack.' I ran ahead of the others, although they were right on my tail.

"Liss!" Christian rushed towards us.

"Christian! What happened?" Lissa asked him, looking over him to see if he was hurt.

"We were attacked on our way back," Christian explained quickly. I felt my heart clench.

"Where's Dimitri?" I gripped his arm, not able to see Dimitri's strong form anywhere.

"He got hurt. He's in the infirmary," Christian replied. "They told me he was going to be okay," he added quickly.

I didn't waste any more time and took off towards the infirmary. Apparently, there had been quite a few people around when the attack happened. There were people buzzing all over the place. I was informed that nobody had been killed, but I still wasn't satisfied. The nurse pointed me in the direction of Dimitri's room when I demanded to know. Finally, I reached my destination.

I tentatively opened the door and saw a doctor tending to Dimitri. Or more accurately, to the stab wound in his shoulder. Dimitri gave me a weak smile, as though he knew that I would have found out what happened almost straight away.

The on-call doctor greeted me, and then went back to cleaning the wound.

Dimitri winced slightly and I went to his side. I slipped my hand into his.

"What happened?" I asked him, wanting to distract him from the pain.

"We were attack when approaching the gates of Court," he told me.

"Why would a Strigoi stab you?" I asked, thoroughly confused as to why he had a knife wound. Dimitri just looked at me.

"We weren't attacked by Strigoi," he said gravely. "It was those rebels."

"The rebels?" I exclaimed. "Why the hell would they go after Christian?"

"They're panicking," he told me, barely wincing as the doctor began to stitch up the wound, which was now clean. "They know they're running out of time so they're just attacking Moroi in general. Maybe they're hoping to cause enough commotion to delay the law and give them more time to get Jill."

I let out a heavy sigh and felt his hand squeeze mine. The doctor finished what he was doing and bid us goodbye, leaving Dimitri with strict instructions on what not to do while he was injured.

"Let's think more about what to do about this tomorrow," I told him, noticing the dark circles under his eyes for the first time. "Get some sleep."

Dimitri gave me a tired smile, looking like he wanted to do anything _but _lie down and take a nap. But his body said otherwise. His eyes closed within sixty seconds and he was asleep a few moments later.

I stayed with his sleeping form for a while, before finally deciding it was time to get up. I stretched my limbs and went off to find Lissa.

I found her with Christian – surprise, surprise. They had been talking about what happened.

"How's Dimitri?" Lissa asked me with concern. Even Christian looked as though he was a little worried.

"He's fine," I told them, suddenly feeling very tired.

"That's good," Lissa said while Christian looked relieved. I didn't even have it in me to tease him. "We were just talking about what this means."

"And?"

"And I've already scheduled three more meetings with members of the council for tomorrow." Lissa told me.

"We need to get this law passed. And we need to get it passed soon."

**Review please ;) you know you want to…**

**Dimkaisshmexy24 – oh how I love your reviews! Not just for this story either – but for my others as well :D You make my day so thank you!**

**RozaRocks, Rose-loves-Dimitri, NightWriter511 &Vampswols4L – thank you for your reviews :D you guys are awesome :P**

**Guest with the funny names (eg: njshvsjkfbsk):P – thank you for reviewing every chapter! Much appreciated and loved :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you all for your reviews! I really am spoiling ye with updates! I owe ye them anyway :P**

**Chapter 8**

A couple of weeks passed without any word from the rebels. It was worrying really.

Lissa had now made a visit to each of the council members so that she could try and get them to see the advantages of getting rid of the quorum law. As was expected, some of the older members were sceptical and didn't want to change anything, but luckily, a lot of the Council were willing to at least hear her out. She had felt that she had gotten through to many of them and fingers crossed, it would show in the results.

Right in the middle of all of this, Lissa had decided that Dimitri and I should take a short break from our duties to visit his family for a week. They hadn't seen him for years. I was reluctant to leave at first – especially right smack in the middle of these attacks but I was assured by different people – both Moroi and fellow guardians - on several occasions that Lissa would be perfectly safe as long as she stayed within the wards of Court.

Surprisingly, or maybe it wasn't, Dimitri seemed happy to take a break for a week to visit his family. God knows he earned it.

So I agreed; just happy to see his elated face.

We stayed with the Belikova's for the entire week – not without drama, of course, but that was completely expected in our lives. Dimitri and I seem to attract it wherever we went.

We returned home after a slightly sad goodbye, to find that Court had been as quiet as it had when we had left in the first place.

Although things over in Palm Springs had not been so fortunate.

I was informed by Lissa that there had been an attack of sorts.

Lee Donahue, son of the Clarence, had managed to kidnap Sydney and Adrian. He had offered them up as bait to two Strigoi in return for immortality.

It was revealed that Lee had been Strigoi once, but like Dimitri and Sonya, had been turned back through spirit. Although, _unlike _Dimitri and Sonya, Lee had been trying his hardest to be 'awakened' once again. All of his attempts had been fruitless, and it came to our attention that once you had been a Strigoi once, it didn't seem you would be able to become one ever again.

Sonya was particularly intrigued by this fact and after some consideration, she decided to travel to Palm Springs and stay there a while. Nobody minded as we were working on getting another room mate for Jill at her school. Sydney had been good, but I knew that she would have been extremely shaken by her kidnapping, and would no longer feel comfortable there.

One night – don't ask me why – but Angeline came to my mind. Her pleading face when we were leaving was stuck in my mind. And honestly, I felt genuinely sorry for the girl. I'd want to leave that place too if I were in her place.

I suggested her to Dimitri and he too thought it may be a good idea.

So the Keepers were contacted, and Angeline was escorted to Court.

Once again, Abe was travelling with the group, and after a day or two, Dimitri told me he wanted to go too. He too, was interested in why he could never be 'awakened' again, and he wanted to aid Sonya in her experiments.

So the following Monday morning, I said goodbye to Dimitri. As soon as they had left the grounds, I felt the loneliness already start to seep into me.

We may not have been 'officially' together as a couple long, but I had grown amazingly used to waking up with him in the morning, or hanging out with him when we weren't on duty. I hated to admit that I was so dependent on another person, but I didn't quite know what to do with myself.

I immediately chastised myself for such thoughts.

I was acting childishly. Of course I could manage being by myself until Dimitri returned. It would be a few weeks, maybe more, but I would be fine. And so would he.

The days went on and I spent the majority of my time working with Lissa. Instead of standing beside her on guard all day, I was literally helping her shift through the piles and piles of dusty old laws. Christian occasionally helped up too but I could tell he didn't really want to stick around when I was present. Things had been a little awkward between us with the whole Tasha thing, and honestly, I think the problem was that neither of us knew exactly how to act. I mean, how _do _you react when your best friend's boyfriend's aunt shoots you?

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and pulled on some workout clothes. This morning was one of the rare mornings where I wasn't on duty, so I decided to use the time wisely.

After grabbing a doughnut, I headed down to the gym. This gym was generally used by the Royal Guard, but any guardian was welcome to join. Or Moroi for that matter, but it wasn't very common to see those guys here.

As I entered the gym, I noticed it was busier than I would have expected 8.30 on a Thursday morning. At least half of the other members of the Royal Guard were there too. I was waved over by Dave, one of the guys that I was usually on guard with at the same time. As I approached I noticed they were watching Ben and Steven spar. It was common to find some form of competition going on between them all.

It was funny, before actually being accepted as a member, I had such an idea of how the entire Royal guard were like; stoic, strong, fierce, dedicated.

And they were.

But they were also probably the most immature group of guys I'd ever met.

"Hathaway!" Dave called me from across the room. "We're heading out to the track – wanna race?"

I laughed to myself. Dave was probably the most competitive of them all. He liked to challenge me on almost a daily basis.

He had yet to beat me.

"It's raining!" I called back.

"You in or not, chicken? Come on, I dare ya" he said with a smirk. They all turned to look at me, knowing full well that I wouldn't back down from his dare.

"I was just giving you a chance to decide if you wanted to save at least some of your pride but too late now!" I called as I ran straight past them all out into the rain. I heard multiple footsteps behind me and pushed myself even faster.

"_This was gonna be fun," _I thought with a smirk.

**(just FYI, I have Rose and Dimitri's visit to Russia as a separate story if you want to read it :) Its called Homecoming from DPOV :))**


	9. Chapter 9

**I spent hours writing this today when I should have been sleeping because I'm sick :P Hope you like it! Review and let me know ;)**

**Chapter 9**

"On your marks…" Fane started.

"Get set…" I dropped to a ready stance at the exact same time Dave did. Fane gave a long dramatic pause.

"Go!"

Dave sprinted off ahead while I hung back, going at a slow jog.

"Hathaway, what the hell are you doing?!" One of guys behind me yelled. "You can't let him win; he'll be cocky for weeks!" I grinned broadly and quickened my pace. In the distance, I heard Dave laugh out loudly, obviously under the impression that he was crushing me.

I sped up my pace but not enough to tire myself out as I made my way around the large track. Up ahead, I could see signs of Dave slowing down, having used the majority of his energy to get a leg up in the race. I smirked, and a couple of hundred feet from the finish line, I sprinted. Not ran. But sprinted.

Dave's face reflected shock as I shot by him and landed in front of the group of guardians, who had been cheering me the whole way around. Dave arrived less than thirty seconds later, grumbling and looking annoyed. I knew his annoyance didn't run too deeply though. It never did.

"Dude, you got owned," Darren joked and clapped him on his back.

"One of these days, Hathaway," Dave warned me, his tone taking on a light hearted feel; letting me know that there were no hard feelings. I hadn't worried too much about it – Dave never kept grudges, especially when it came to little things. Despite all of his mocking and teasing, I knew he had a soft spot for me – not in a romantic way – but we had become quite close; like a brother-sister type relationship.

It only just occurred to me that my clothes and hair were completely soaked through.

"Let's get inside," Darren said and we all followed him.

We all retreated inside and I said goodbye as I went to hang out with Lissa. On the way over, I began to think about those dreams I had been having. They were now pretty much all I could think about for the next couple of hours.

A couple of weeks had passed, and I was still plagued with those horrible nightmares. I didn't understand them. I mean, I knew I harboured _some _guilt towards the whole situation, but I also knew that it hadn't really been my fault. The darkness had gotten the better of me. So why were they bothering my subconscious so much? They only seemed to have gotten worse since Dimitri was not by my side to hold me or wake me up.

"Oh Rose, just go see him!" Lissa exclaimed suddenly, obviously mistaking my depressed mood for the fact that I hadn't seen Dimitri in almost two months.

Thinking about it, she was kind of right. Despite being busy, and talking to him almost every day, I missed him like crazy.

"You know I can't do that Liss…" I told her, flicking my pen off of the table. The two of us were sitting in her apartment, doing _more _paperwork and of course, eating junk food.

Well, I was anyway.

"Why not?" she said, pushing the plate of cookies towards me. "I'm perfectly protected here."

She scooted over beside me when I didn't reply.

"Rose, I have like, ten other guardians to protect me. They may not be able to kick ass as hard as you," she paused to laugh, "but I'm pretty sure the ten of them combined can do _some_ damage."

I smiled and leant my head on her shoulder.

"If it makes you feel better," she continued. "I won't step outside the wards at all until you're back."

I lifted my head again. "You promise?"

"I promise."

I grinned, suddenly realising what this meant.

"Thanks Liss!" She grinned back, looking happy that my mood had been lifted.

"Can we shopping though first?" she asked me. "I really need a new dress for that dinner party thing Christian and I have to go to on Saturday."

"Sure, you wanna go today?" I asked her, already thinking about what I would pack for the weekend.

"Okay, I'll book your flight first then we'll go." She jumped up off the couch and ran to the computer.

"No, Liss, you don't have to-"

"Shut up, Rose," she called, making me laugh as she logged in. I figured it would just be easier not to argue with her.

So an hour later, the flight was booked and we were on our way to the nearest mall.

Lissa had taken four other guardians with her so that I didn't have to be on duty. I brought my stake with me all the same though.

"Where do you wanna go first?" I asked her once we had piled out of the car and walked inside. It was Friday afternoon, and therefore quite busy. The other guards spread out and acted as far guards, while Dave was elected to stay with Lissa as her near guard, given that he was younger and blended in better with us.

Lissa decided to look for her dress first, and so we did. My flight wasn't until this evening so we had plenty of time.  
We went from store to store, Lissa trying on dresses while I gave my honest critique.

Finally, we found one that we both loved _and _was suitable for the Royal dinner. It was silk and a beautiful shade of dark green, which brought out her eyes wonderfully. It was long and plain, but had small sequins sewed delicately around the waist.

"This is the one," she said out loud, admiring herself in the mirror. I agreed and she bought it. All the while we were at the mall, I kept constant eye contact with him, as well as the others. Dave usually stood off the door of the store we happened to me in, wanting to give us space and trusting that I could handle any absolute immediate danger.

"Rose!" Lissa said suddenly, grabbing my arm.

"What?" I asked, glancing around to spot any trouble. Dave gave me a confused look from across the walkway in the shopping centre.

"You _have _to get your belly button pierced!" she exclaimed. I looked at her like she was…well, crazy.

"Where the hell did that come from?" I asked her. She pointed to one of the shops along the right hand side. It was a tattoo parlour that also did piercings.

"I dunno, Liss," I told her, looking at the store's glossy black front.

"Come on! You've always wanted to get it done! Now you have the money for it so you have no excuse!"

I sighed and let her drag me to the front of the parlour. I looked at the different colour belly button bars with longing. I _had _wanted to get it pierced for a long time – way before we'd even ran away from the Academy. I most definitely had the body for it, and now that I was working, I had the money for it.

Lissa raised her eyebrows at me, waiting for me to agree.

"Oh, alright," I agreed and grinned. She grabbed my hand and we entered the little store. Dave followed us in while the other three guardians waited outside the door.

The room was fairly average sized for a tattoo parlour. Each surrounding wall was covered in different types of tattoos and colours. They was a smaller section designated to piercings.

I told the man behind the counter – who happened to be covered head to toe with many scary looking tattoos – what I wanted and he led Lissa and I to a much smaller room out the back. Dave came with us, obviously not liking the look of the gothic place.

The guy who was going to do my piercing was human, and he seemed pretty harmless…the dagger earring he was wearing in his left ear aside.

Pretty soon, I was lying on a table. I was pretty sure the guy was incapable of making any kind of human noise except grunting. He cleaned and marked my belly button, before clamping my skin. To say it hurt would be an understatement, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Dave had the audacity to _laugh_ at my pained expression. I shot him a pain-filled glare which made him shut up.

Pretty soon, the guy put the blue bar through my now pierced skin and finished up. I gave him the money and got up. I half expected the room to spin but it didn't. I took a good look in the mirror in the room before we left, and I had to admit, it looked damn hot.

As we walked out, I realised how sore it actually was.

"Belikov's gonna love that," Dave winked at me as we left the store. I suddenly felt a little weird. What if Dimitri _didn't_ like it? I had just assumed he would but…did _all _guys think belly button piercings were hot?

I had too much dignity to ask Dave his honest opinion. I was pretty sure I'd only get laughed at in response anyway.

"Rose you've only got an hour before you have to be at the airport!" Lissa exclaimed. _Shit. _I hadn't even packed yet.

We got home and I had twenty five minutes to spare. Lissa helped me shove a load of clothes in an overnight bag and said goodbye. I sprinted out to the gates and borrowed one of the courts cars, promising to have it back in a couple of days.

I made it to the airport on time…just about.

I checked in and was allowed to board straight away.

Thankfully, the flight wasn't busy and I got a window seat. I dozed there happily for the next two and a half hours before the seatbelt sign turned on again and the captain announced that we were descending.

It was dark out when I arrived. And late.

I didn't even bother calling Dimitri, wanting to surprise him. I grabbed a taxi outside the airport and gave him the directions to old Clarence's house. As we were pulling up, I remembered that I had forgotten to turn my phone back on after the flight. After quickly powering it on, I saw that I had two missed calls from Dimitri.

I quickly redialled his number. He answered on the third ring.

"Roza…" hearing his voice and knowing he was so close made my heart soar. "I tried to call you earlier…were you and Lissa working late?"

"Eh…I guess you could say that," I answered, giving the cab driver the fair and silently thanking him. I grabbed my overnight bag and climbed out of the car.

"What do you mean?" he asked sounding confused.

"Well, you see…" I knocked on the door three times. Dimitri was silent on the other end of the phone. I realised he had probably put it together, having heard the knocking both from inside, and through my end of the phone.

The door swung open, revealing a very gorgeous looking Dimitri.

"Surprise!" I said, not being able to help grinning my ear to ear.

"Roza?" It seemed like one of the only times I had ever _really _surprised him.

"Arent you happy to see me?" I asked, pretending to be hurt. Dimitri recovered himself and before I knew it, he had me in his arms. He pulled back from the tight embrace and kissed me hard on the lips. Emotion and energy flowed back and forth between us; so much so that I felt like I was going to faint. He eventually broke away, but made no attempt to put me back on my feet.

"Answer your question?" he smiled and gave my lips another sweet peck. He put me back down on the ground and took my bag from my hand.

"Where is everyone?" I asked him, taking in the dark empty rooms. Sydney, Jill, Angeline and Eddie are all still at school. Everyone else is in bed."

"Really?" I checked my watch and saw that it was after 12.

Dimitri shut the door quietly behind us and locked it.

"What are you doing here?" He asked me, pulling me in for another hug.

"Lissa gave me a few days off to come see you," I explained. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," he replied sweetly and kissed me again.

The kiss quickly turned more heated and urgent and soon enough, I was pushing Dimitri towards the stairs. He chuckled and grabbed my hand, leading me up to his room.


	10. Chapter 10

***The only reason I added the belly-button piercing in is because Rose says in Vampire Academy how much she wanted to get it done, but could never afford it. I thought it would be nice to give her what she wanted for once :P **

***Okay I know this chapter is short, and I was going to wait to upload it so I could write more, but the fact is, I'm not sure I'll get time to write for another little while. It's better than nothing, right?**

*******What do you guys think about a lemon? Yes or no, let me know!**

**Chapter 10**

"Woah, woah wait a sec…" I mumbled as Dimitri moved his lips down to my neck.

He pulled back immediately, looking worried he had done something wrong.

"Are you okay?" he asked, pushing himself up on his elbows so that he could see my face.

"Yea-yeah…I was just, em, wondering if I could ask you something?"

"Sure, Rose," he answered, leaning back further to take in my full expression.

"How do you feel about, em, belly button piercings…"I trailed off, concern pooling in my stomach. What if he hated them? I was kicking myself for not asking him before…I mean, not that I needed his consent, but it still would've been nice to know he was on board.

"Belly button piercings?" he looked surprised at my question but quickly got over it and made a face. "Always hated them, why are you asking?"

_Shit. _

"Eh, no reason," I answered quickly and sat up, making Dimitri move with me. "You know what comrade? I'm kinda hungry…you mind if we finish this later?" I jumped up off the bed and fixed my shirt so that I didn't look I'd been rolling around in a bed for the past half an hour.

"Eh- sure," he said and followed me down the stairs.

_Ugh, why had I let Lissa talk me into getting it done? _I mean, yeah, it was something I'd wanted for years, but a lot had changed since then. _I _had changed since then.

"Oh-" I pushed open the kitchen door to find Sonya studying some pieces of paper with writing scrawled all over them. She was halfway through a cup of coffee. "Sonya! Hi." All thoughts of my piercing were temporarily forgotten.

"Rose?" she greeted me with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Short weekend break," I replied. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Oh, I just have to confirm the flower arrangements and the centre pieces for the wedding. I'm also trying to get the final head count for the actual ceremony."

"Cool, you need a hand?" I asked her. I was a bridesmaid after all.

"No, I'm good thanks," she gave me a warm smile. "You guys go back to whatever you were doing." I was pretty sure I heard a double meaning in the last sentence, but chose to ignore it.

Figuring no one would mind, I made a big deal about raiding through the fridge. Dimitri chuckled.

"Want me to make you something?" he asked, amused.

I sighed, loudly. "I thought you'd never ask."

He stood up straight and pulled out a loaf of bread, along with some cheese slices, and he set to making some grilled cheese.

"So," I leaned on the counter opposite Sonya. "You nervous about the wedding?"

"Not really, no," she replied. "I've never been so sure of anything in my life."

I smiled at her as she returned to her work.

"What about you guys?" she asked us, not looking up. Dimitri's head shot up and he turned to look at my reaction.

"What?" I asked her.

"Do I hear more wedding bells for you two?" she laughed and winked.

"No!" I replied immediately. "No, no, no, no, no." Dimitri started laughing.

"You seem pretty sure of that, Rose," Sonya stated. "Not the marriage type?"

"No, it's not that," I said, feeling ever so slightly put on the spot. Dimitri and I had had this talk many times…or well, he had tried to. I always told him to shove it, and changed the subject. "I just don't want to get married before the age of twenty. At least." I added, knowing full well that Dimitri was probably counting the months to my twentieth birthday.

"A reasonable reason, I guess," Sonya said, still smiling and returned once again to her work. I stuck my tongue out at Dimitri, who was grinning at me. A full on grin too. The kind of one that made my heart melt. It was a smile that had become increasingly more common…and I loved it.

I knew Dimitri didn't take my rejection of marriage to heart…I'm pretty sure he thinks he can persuade me. I didn't want him to ask me…not yet. I was too young.

I was afraid he would ask me anyway though, and the truth was, if he asked me…

I wouldn't be able to say no.

Could I see myself married to Dimitri?

The answer was yes. Yes I could.

But it would be in the future. When I was old enough, and mature enough to be somebody's wife.

Well, old enough anyway.

"Here you are." Dimitri placed a grilled cheese in front of me. I grinned over my shoulder at him and smiled into the kiss he placed on my lips. Feeling Sonya's eyes on us, I quickly turned away and focused my attention on my food for fear that the 'marriage' topic would return.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked her, finishing one half of my grilled cheese. Sonya looked up at me expectantly.

"You see Jill often right? How's she doing?" I sat down opposite her.

"She seems fine," Sonya replied. "She's settled in quite well."

"No, I meant with the darkness," I corrected myself. "Can you tell anything from her aura?"

"It has the same black tinge around it that indicates that someone is shadowkissed – but nowhere near as bad as yours was. It's still early days," Sonya told me. "It'll take a couple of years before it really starts to affect her."

I nodded in agreement. We chatted for a while longer before Sonya announced she was going up to bed. She bade us goodnight and we listened to her climbing the stairs.

"Come here," I told Dimitri, to which he complied. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a sweet kiss on the lips. "I missed you. I really did. I missed talking with you at night."

He smiled. "I missed that too."

Sometimes back home, if Dimitri had a late shift, I would wait up for him, or vice versa. We would end up staying up for hours together, just talking about everything and anything. It was a routine we hadn't really meant to start, but meant a lot to both of us. With our jobs, it was easy for us to get lost in our duties, but this ensured we always made time for one another.

He took my hand and led me into the living room. He put on some movie that we half-watched and half-talked through. About three-quarters through the movie though, I felt my eyelids begin to droop and snuggled myself even closer to Dimitri's body. He shifted himself so that he was lying down on the length of the couch, and I was pressed up against him on the inside of the couch, my head resting on his chest.

In this much more comfortable position, I fell asleep very quickly.

DPOV

I awoke late the next morning. It took me a moment to realise where I was.

On the couch of Clarence's living room. I reached over, expecting to feel Rose lying beside me, but all I felt was the cold cushions.

I gently opened my eyes and saw that I was alone in the room. The curtains were drawn but there was a small gap with enough sunshine shining through to tell me that it was late morning.

I moved to sit up, but winced as my stiff muscles were straightened out. I stood up when I was sure I could without falling over and walked over to the kitchen.

Here I found Rose chatting quietly with Sonya.

"Have a good night?" Sonya joked, bringing a steaming cup of coffee to her mouth and taking a sip. Rose grinned in response and stuck her tongue out, to which Sonya chuckled.

Sonya excused herself to get ready for the day and returned upstairs.

"Hey," I said, my voice still coated in sleep. I ran a hand through my hair.

"Hi," Rose replied. "Sleep well?"

I dropped into the chair beside her and rubbed my neck, which was still sore from the angle I had slept in last night. "We feel asleep on the couch?"

"Seems like it," she chuckled. "Want me to make it better?"

I raised an eyebrow at her suggestion and watched her as she stood up and walked over. She placed a kiss on my cheek and then began to gently massage my sore shoulders and neck. I closed his eyes at the pleasure and couldn't help but lean my head back against her. She stopped massaging and leaned towards to place a kiss on my forehead.

Keeping my eyes closed, I reached behind me and pulled her around so that she landed on my lap. Without waiting for her to adjust, I kissed her.

Rose gave in to the kiss very quickly and things heated fast. I was about a second away from sweeping my arms across the kitchen table to clear it and throw her on it when she leaned down and whispered in my ear;

"Upstairs."


	11. Chapter 11

**I know that some of you really wanted a lemon, but I decided against it (for now) – I just really wasn't in the mood to write one! Maybe later on in the story :)**

**Chapter 11**

The journey upstairs was almost like a race – both of us trying to get there first.

Dimitri tackled me when we reached his room. We both landed with a thump on the bed, and I quickly shoved him off me so that he lay facing the ceiling. Giving him a cheeky, suggestive grin, I placed one knee either side of his waist.

He didn't seem to mind me taking control and gladly helped me remove his shirt. I leaned down and placed a heated kiss on his lips. His wonderful hands and fingers wound themselves into my hair and kept me in place so that he could deepen the kiss.

Our tongues battled, and in the end, he gave in. I don't think he really needed that much convincing to be honest. I sat back up and gave him my best man-eater smile, before removing my own shirt and throwing across the small room. I had the pleasure of seeing Dimitri's eyes widen.

Not stopping to let him gawk my body, I reached around and began to undo my bra strap…but his hand's suddenly stopped me. I looked at him in confusion.

"Rose," he began carefully. "What…is _that?" _

I finally paid attention to what exactly he was looking at, and glanced down.

My stomach dropped when I saw the little blue stud on my belly button staring back at me.

"Shit," I cursed. "Shit, I forgot…" I trailed off, choosing to mentally chastise myself. How the _hell_ had I forgotten it was there?!

"Dimitri, I'm sorry," I said to him, getting off him and running a hand through my already-messy hair. "I really didn't realise you hated them – It's just something I've always wanted to get done but I never had the money, or the freedom." Dimitri stayed silent while I rambled my excuse, his eyes never wavering from my stomach.

"Roza," his voice sounded strained, and I mentally slapped myself again. "Stop. You don't have to be sorry for something that you _wanted _to get done. It's not up to me to tell you what you should, or shouldn't do to your body."

"But you hate it," I replied, my voice quiet.

"Actually," Dimitri said, tilting his head and looking back at the piercing. "I thought I hated them…but now that I've seen it…" he looked thoughtful for a moment and then looked me in the eyes. I could see a fire burning up in there once again. "…I think it's pretty hot."

My eyes widened in surprise. "You do?"

He just nodded, still staring at it. "Does it hurt, or can you…_do_ things?"

I felt a grin slide over my face and in one passionate kiss, I let him know my answer. Dimitri didn't need any more encouragement and before I knew it, he was on me again.

Hours later, we lay wrapped up in each other's arms, just soaking in the peaceful bliss surrounding us.

Clarence's house wasn't situated in a high-traffic area, and therefore, the only sounds around us was the birds chirping in the golden sun and the pattering of feet as Sonya and Clarence went about their business downstairs.

"We should probably head downstairs soon," I told Dimitri, hating to break the lovely silence. "It has to be after noon."

"Roza," Dimitri started, placing a kiss on my forehead. "We haven't been together like this in weeks – I think we're allowed to just relax for a little while."

"Don't you have to help Sonya with her studies?"

"Not today," he answered and I snuggled in closer to his chest. To say that I had missed him was an understatement – but I hadn't realised just how much I missed him.

"You'll be home soon, right?" I asked him, trying to angle myself so that I could study his face.

"Hopefully," he replied, glancing down at me too, and once again, I got lost in the depth of his brown eyes.

We let the comfortable silence engulf us once more, leaving both of us to our own thoughts.

Dimitri and I hadn't _technically _been 'dating' for very long, but we had known each other for over a year now; and I knew that he knew me more than I knew myself. My future had always seemed so foggy – what with never knowing when or how I was going to die.

My future with Dimitri, however, was pretty clear to me.

We would be together. For as long as it was possible.

We would go on dates, we would get married (way _way _in the future), we could buy a house and hopefully grow old together.

I also worried about what if something happened to one of us too early? It was a horrible thought but totally possible considering our career. I didn't want anything to happen before we had gotten a chance to even do any of those things.

"Dimitri?"

"Hmm?" I felt him smile into my hair.

"…How would you feel about, eh, moving in with me?" I asked, too scared to look at his reaction. "When you get back?"

"You want to live together?" I could hear the surprise in his voice and immediately started backtracking.

"Well, I just, you know, nevermind, it was a stupid id-"

"I'd love to," he said, cutting off my rambling.

"You would?" I asked, lifting my body up and saw that he was smiling happily at me.

"Yes," he replied, looking sincere. "When I get back, I would love to move in with you." He pulled me in for a kiss – a sweet one. The kind of kiss that made my knees give way and my legs feel like jelly.

It was at least another hour before we both arrived downstairs. I only had a couple of hours left in Palm Springs and so we made the best of it. Dimitri took me on a lunch date in the busy town, then we went for a walk around, before returning to Clarence's house and chatting away with him and Sonya.

All too soon, it was time to go back home, and I reluctantly said goodbye to Dimitri outside the house. We promised to see each other soon, and I told him I'd call as soon as I arrived home.  
Leaving him felt harder than normal this time, but it was made a lot easier by the fact that Lissa would probably be able to pass the new law soon, meaning Jill and the team could go home – not to mention Sonya's wedding, which was approaching fast.

The flight was as quiet as it had been on the journey over here, and I slept most of the way.

My blissful, uplifted mood was shattered as soon as the plane had landed.

I hadn't checked my phone at all since I'd arrived in Palm Springs, and I only now saw that I had eleven missed calls and one voicemail.

I quickly checked it and my stomach dropped through the ground as Han's voice spoke urgently through the speaker.

"_Hathaway, I need you back here ASAP…There's been an attack."_


	12. MAJORLY IMPORTANT

**MAJORLY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

It has recently been brought to my attention that all fanfics containing lemons/M rated stuff will be deleted from this site as of June 4th – meaning that the majority of my stuff could very well disappear.

Now I've heard so many things and I would appreciate if anybody could tell me what is really happening? Is it true that after the accused stories have been removed, the account of the author will also be destroyed?

If this is indeed true, and my account is removed, fear not! :P I have created a second account where I will re-post my stories when I had "fixed" them.

My other pen name is Roza-Dimka-Reader2

I will only repost my stories if they are removed :)

Thank you for reading and supporting me right from the very start of my time here on fanfiction :)


End file.
